Helix in Ha

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Hi

have been experimenting with an asi1600 CMOS camera to see what goes in narrowband. On my system it is Ha sky-limited at less than 5 minutes when the moon is up, but under dark sky, quite a bit longer subs make sense - at gain 200 it is sky-limited at about 10 minutes.

http://www.astrobin.com/full/268410/0/

Had about 7.5 hours of 10 minute subs taken at different gains and decided to put them all together to see what could be extracted from the data without excessive processing - light deconvolution and a stretch plus a little noise reduction. I have some O3 data taken with a H694 camera and may try combining that with the Ha data at some stage, but for now, this is the best I have - am particularly pleased to have some detail in the cometary knots.

thanks for looking. regards Ray

edit: for interest, here is the extremity region, software binned 2x2 http://www.astrobin.com/full/268411/0/?nc=Shiraz

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

We have all seen many deep Ha shots of the Helix... and well, this is about as good as it gets from a 10" Newt I'd recon Ray and with quite moderate exposure too, good stuff, seems those two cameras of yours make imaging life rather manageable huh?

Mike

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

Lovely Ray, trying 10 mins myself at 75 gain under the bright moon, LMC. worked well on initial impressions

[Atmos (Colin)]

Very nice Ray, some very nice detail in the centre of the Helix and the fainter extensions showing up nicely.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

[gregbradley]

Another stunner. Really nice work again.

Greg.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Incredible details in the central part as you've mentioned. Really well done.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

We have all seen many deep Ha shots of the Helix... and well, this is about as good as it gets from a 10" Newt I'd recon Ray and with quite moderate exposure too, good stuff, seems those two cameras of yours make imaging life rather manageable huh?

Mike

thanks Mike. it is a luxury to have 2 very nice cameras - now have to work out which one to keep..

Originally Posted by SimmoW

Lovely Ray, trying 10 mins myself at 75 gain under the bright moon, LMC. worked well on initial impressions

all the best Simon - be interesting to see how you go.

Originally Posted by Atmos

Very nice Ray, some very nice detail in the centre of the Helix and the fainter extensions showing up nicely.

thanks Colin!

Originally Posted by Placidus

thanks very much!

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Another stunner. Really nice work again.

Greg.

thanks a lot Greg - appreciated

Originally Posted by multiweb

Incredible details in the central part as you've mentioned. Really well done.

many thanks Marc.

regards Ray

[batema (Mark)]

Very nice indeed. You must be loving that camera.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

A picture is worth a thousand words - and this one is a great testimony of how good CMOS chips can be in capable hands. A spectacular photograph Ray.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Originally Posted by batema

Very nice indeed. You must be loving that camera.

thanks Mark. The camera is performing quite well - if only the clouds would.

Originally Posted by Slawomir

A picture is worth a thousand words - and this one is a great testimony of how good CMOS chips can be in capable hands. A spectacular photograph Ray.

thanks very much Suavi. The CMOS technology seems to do the job and hasn't shown any major issues yet - we shall see what it is like longer term.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Great detail in there Ray! Also very impressed with the depth you can achieve with only 7.5 hours of data.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

really good again. umm skylimited in NB so quick??? what would happen with a narrower filters?

i'm pretty close to pressing the button on one of these. not sure how i'd use it, perhaps use the 694 on small targets (galaxies/PN/small nebs) the 1600 on wider targets (eg lagoon etc) or go dual scope with the 1600 on the goto dob and the 694 on the 12"f4. so many options.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Great detail in there Ray! Also very impressed with the depth you can achieve with only 7.5 hours of data.

thanks very much Marcus. still coming to grips with how the camera works, but it certainly can do deep narrowband OK

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

really good again. umm skylimited in NB so quick??? what would happen with a narrower filters?

i'm pretty close to pressing the button on one of these. not sure how i'd use it, perhaps use the 694 on small targets (galaxies/PN/small nebs) the 1600 on wider targets (eg lagoon etc) or go dual scope with the 1600 on the goto dob and the 694 on the 12"f4. so many options.

thanks Russ. the 694 is still a very fine camera - might end up keeping mine for a second system as well. we are a bit spoilt for choice these days

[RickS (Rick)]

That's very impressive, Ray! So much great stuff dug out in the software binned version.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Originally Posted by RickS

That's very impressive, Ray! So much great stuff dug out in the software binned version.

Cheers,
Rick.

cheers Rick - thanks.